# Tavily MCP server

> Search the live web, extract page content, map sites and crawl them from your assistant using the Tavily API.

- Listing: https://mcp.tc/i/tavily
- Connect: use the server's own URL `https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/` (OAuth sign-in at the server); clients connect to it directly. The listing link is a page, not an MCP endpoint.
- Type: remote (Streamable HTTP)
- Auth: OAuth sign-in
- Category: [Search & Web Data](https://mcp.tc/c/search-web)
- Vendor: Tavily
- Homepage: <https://docs.tavily.com/documentation/mcp>
- Repository: <https://github.com/tavily-ai/tavily-mcp>
- Package: npm `tavily-mcp`

## About

Tavily connects an assistant to the Tavily API for real-time web access. It provides tools for web search, extracting content from pages, mapping the structure of a website and crawling sites systematically.

It runs as a hosted streamable HTTP endpoint at mcp.tavily.com/mcp, or locally with npx using the tavily-mcp package (Node.js 20 or higher). Access needs a Tavily API key, passed in the URL query, an Authorization header or the TAVILY\_API\_KEY variable. The hosted server also supports an OAuth sign-in flow. Default search parameters can be set with DEFAULT\_PARAMETERS.

## What it can do

- Run real-time web searches with tavily-search
- Extract content from web pages with tavily-extract
- Map the structure of a website
- Crawl websites systematically
- Set default search parameters such as max results or images

## Example prompts

- "Search the web for the latest Node.js release notes and summarize them."
- "Extract the main content from this article URL."
- "Map the structure of docs.example.com and list its main sections."
- "Crawl this documentation site and find pages about authentication."

## Install

### Claude Code

1. Run this in a terminal, in your project folder:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http tavily https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/
```

2. Start Claude Code, type `/mcp`, pick **tavily** and choose **Authenticate**. A browser window opens for the Tavily sign-in.

Add `--scope user` to make it available in every project, not just this one.

### Claude Desktop

1. Open **Settings → Connectors** and click **Add custom connector**.

2. Name it **Tavily** and paste this URL:

```url
https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/
```

3. Click **Add**, then **Connect**, and sign in when Tavily asks.

Claude Desktop’s JSON config file only starts local servers. Remote servers go through Connectors, and connectors you add on claude.ai show up here too.

### claude.ai

1. Open the connector form on claude.ai. This button fills in the name and URL for you:

[Add to claude.ai](<https://claude.ai/customize/connectors?modal=add-custom-connector&connectorName=Tavily&connectorUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fmcp.tavily.com%2Fmcp%2F>) (opens connector settings)

2. Check that the URL reads `https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/` and click **Add**.

3. Click **Connect** and sign in when Tavily asks.

Free plans allow one custom connector. On Team and Enterprise plans an owner adds it under **Organization settings → Connectors**.

### ChatGPT

1. On chatgpt.com, open **Settings → Security and login** and turn on **Developer mode**.

2. Go to `chatgpt.com/plugins` and click **+** to create an app for a remote MCP server.

3. Paste `https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/` as the server URL and choose **OAuth**. ChatGPT sends you to Tavily to sign in.

Developer mode is available on the web for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts.

### Cursor

[Add to Cursor](<https://cursor.com/install-mcp?name=tavily&config=eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL21jcC50YXZpbHkuY29tL21jcC8ifQ%3D%3D>) (opens Cursor)

Or add it by hand to `~/.cursor/mcp.json` (all projects) or `.cursor/mcp.json` (this project):

`mcp.json`:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily": {
      "url": "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/"
    }
  }
}
```

Cursor shows **Needs login** next to the server. Click it to sign in.

### VS Code

[Install in VS Code](<https://vscode.dev/redirect/mcp/install?name=tavily&config=%7B%22type%22%3A%22http%22%2C%22url%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fmcp.tavily.com%2Fmcp%2F%22%7D>) (opens VS Code)

Or from a terminal:

```bash
code --add-mcp '{"name":"tavily","type":"http","url":"https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/"}'
```

Or commit it to the repo in `.vscode/mcp.json`:

`.vscode/mcp.json`:

```json
{
  "servers": {
    "tavily": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/"
    }
  }
}
```

VS Code asks you to sign in the first time the server starts.

### Devin Desktop

1. Add it to `~/.config/devin/mcp_config.json` (macOS and Linux) or `%APPDATA%\devin\mcp_config.json` (Windows):

`mcp_config.json`:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily": {
      "serverUrl": "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/"
    }
  }
}
```

2. Refresh the MCP server list in Cascade and sign in when asked.

Devin Desktop is the new name for Windsurf. It reads `serverUrl` (or `url`) for remote servers.

### Codex

```bash
codex mcp add tavily --url https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/
codex mcp login tavily
```

Or edit `~/.codex/config.toml` directly:

`config.toml`:

```toml
[mcp_servers.tavily]
url = "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/"
```

### Gemini CLI

```bash
gemini mcp add --transport http tavily https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/
```

Then, inside Gemini CLI, run `/mcp auth tavily` to sign in.

This adds it to the current project. Add `-s user` to use it everywhere.

### Any client

Most clients accept this shape. Some name the URL field differently: `serverUrl` in Devin Desktop, `httpUrl` in Gemini CLI’s settings file.

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "tavily": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/"
    }
  }
}
```

Zed puts servers under `context_servers` in its settings. Cline needs `"type": "streamableHttp"`, or it assumes SSE.

Client only starts local servers? Bridge it with `npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.tavily.com/mcp/`.

## Details

- Server version: 0.2.15
- Last checked: 2026-10-03 (reachable, asks for credentials)
- Listed: 2026-10-03
- Updated: 2026-10-03

---
Source: https://mcp.tc/i/tavily (mcp.tc is an independent directory, not affiliated with this server's publisher). Corrections: https://mcp.tc/report